November 8, 2025
NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel’s television future hung in the balance Thursday after ABC suspended his late-night show following the host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, which prompted dozens of stations to say they wouldn’t air the show, a move that was cheered on by a top federal regulator.
The veteran late-night comic made several remarks about the reaction to the conservative activist's murder last week on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday and Tuesday nights, including that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
ABC, which has aired Kimmel's late-night show since 2003, moved swiftly after Nexstar Communications Group said it would pull the show starting Wednesday. Kimmel's comments about Kirk's death “are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.
Another company that owns local television stations, Sinclair, called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to the activist’s political organization, Turning Point USA. Sinclair says its ABC stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday in Kimmel’s time slot.
In an appearance on CNBC on Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cheered the moves by the two affiliate groups to push back against the network. While the Federal Communications Commission does not have power over the television networks, it does have the authority to suspend the licenses of their individual stations in local markets.
“We’re reinvigorating the FCC’s enforcement of the public interest,” Carr said, “and I think that’s a good thing.”
There was no immediate comment from Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026. ABC's statement did not cite a reason why his show was preempted.
President Donald Trump celebrated ABC's move on the social media site Truth Social, writing: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
Carr on Wednesday called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said his agency has a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation. He said the comic appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public that Kirk’s assassin was a right-wing Trump supporter.
During his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel suggested Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, might have been a pro-Trump Republican.
“The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said on the Benny Johnson podcast. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Authorities say the 22-year-old grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah but was enmeshed in “leftist ideology.” His parents told investigators he had turned politically left and pro-LBGTQ rights in the last year. His voter status is inactive, meaning he did not vote in two regular general elections. He told his romantic partner, a biological male who identifies as transgender, that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
Both Disney and Nexstar have FCC business ahead of them. Disney is seeking regulatory approval for ESPN's acquisition of the NFL Network, and Nexstar needs the Trump administration's go-ahead to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna.
While CBS said this past summer that it was canceling Colbert’s show next May for financial reasons, some critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role. Both Colbert and Kimmel have made the president the frequent target of their jokes. Soon after the Colbert cancellation, the FCC approved CBS parent company Paramount’s long-pending deal with Skydance.
Within the past year, both Disney and CBS parent Paramount chose to settle lawsuits brought by Trump against their news divisions rather than fight it out in court.
Kimmel departed the Hollywood theater where his show is taped about three hours after ABC’s decision. He was seen wearing a black hat, backpack, and plaid shirt and kept his head down as he entered a waiting vehicle.
An audience was lined up outside the theater where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tapes when they were told Wednesday’s show was canceled.
“We were just about to walk in — interestingly enough, they waited to pull the plug on this right as the studio audience was about to walk in,” Tommy Williams, a would-be audience member from Jacksonville, Florida, told The Associated Press outside the theater. “They didn’t tell us what had happened. They just said that the show was canceled."
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